Turkey on Friday urged UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to find a new formula to resume stalled talks with Cyprus, reported the Turkish Daily News.
President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Rauf Denktas, refuses to participate in the UN-sponsored proximity talks until the KKTC's status is determined, said the paper.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said in a statement that Turkey supported Turkish Cypriot demands.
"It has become clear that UN-chaired talks do not serve the aim of a permanent peace in the island," said Tacan Ildem, foreign policy adviser to Sezer. "The mission that falls on the UN Secretary General is to find a new method that is acceptable to (both) sides."
UN officials mediated between Turkish and Greek Cypriots, who did not meet face to face during the talks, said the paper.
AUSTRIA TO WITHDRAW ITS UN TROOPS FROM CYPRUS
Budgetary pressures have forced Austria to bring its 37 years of peacekeeping in Cyprus to an end, Austria's foreign minister has said, cited by the paper.
Benita Ferrer Waldren paid a farewell visit on Thursday to the 240 Austrian troops stationed with the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.
The Austrians, who were among the founding contingents of the UN force, are set to leave the island at the end of June, the paper said.
The UN force arrived on the island in 1964 following the outbreak of clashes between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Waldren, who is on a week-long visit to the island, told reporters Wednesday that her government regretted the withdrawal.
"It was not an easy decision to make," she said during a news conference.
"We have great budget restraints on the one hand and, on the other, Austria is preparing for the European Rapid Reaction Force, to which we have pledged troops. This, of course, is too much for our budget and we had to make cuts somewhere," she explained – Albawaba.com
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